Slow is smooth, smooth is fast – Now Pick up the Pace

Today is a guest post from Josh.   Check out his ideas for speeding up your quick draw.

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KA-CHING, KACHING! These days when I practice shooting that is the sound I hear. KA-CHING, KACHING! It’s the sound of money exploding from the muzzle of my pistol. This sound rings in my ears louder and louder, especially now that I am paying for the rounds and not Uncle Sam. Not surprisingly I train a bit less as a result.

A few months ago I spotted a video online of Joe Teti of Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival making a shot dead center in .75 seconds. I am pretty fast and train by the adage “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”, but .75 sec, dead center, not so much. In the video Teti attributes his speed and accuracy to training with a SIRT pistol while watching TV. He claimed that by doing this he trained his mind to process through the OODA loop faster, If you don’t know about the OODA loop read the wiki article on it, it’s very good. So I went out to the interwebs to investigate this SIRT pistol and give it a shot, literally.

The SIRT pistol is a training gun that emits two lasers, one for target acquisition, the other for trigger pull. It has all the feel and function of a Glock 40. The site says that the SIRT is “made for shooters, by shooters”. Considering that it’s inventor, and the CEO of Next Level Training, Mike Hughes was a finalist on History Channel’s Top Shot and has been featured in Concealed Carry Magazine and a dozen or so others gives him some amount of street cred. So I decided to pony up the dough and take on their 100X challenge – more on that below.

First a short review.

Yes, the SIRT feels and looks and functions much like a Glock. I am not a fan of the Glock, being a 1911 guy, but the principals are the same regardless. The magazines are removable, you get two of them so you can practice your reload. I tried my buddy’s rail light on it and it fit fine. The trigger feels nearly identical to that of a Glock as well. All in all Next Level Training delivers on their promise – and it’s made in the USA, which is harder and harder to find these days. I am not going to advocate dropping live fire training for the SIRT, Next Level Training is up front about that too which adds to their credibility in my opinion. The SIRT is intended to help make every practice shot count. And it does.

For more info on the SIRT go to sirtsurvival.com.

Now for the fun stuff, training. The 100X Challenge is simply 100 shots a day for 100 days and see how you improve. I don’t have a fancy pants shot timer like Teti but It’s been 60 days and I feel a heck of a lot faster and just as smooth as ever. I love to exercise so not surprisingly my version of the 100X looks much like a workout routine. I include exercise into the shooting, something we did in the military, because you have to constantly reorient yourself. It kind of simulates shooting under stress.

To get started, flip on your TV to whatever channel you want and holster your SIRT. Keep your targets random; pick whatever you want, people with brown hair, cans in drink commercials, that stupid Beeber kid, whatever. As soon as the target is on screen take the shot as fast as possible without getting sloppy. Remember the adage.

Round 1
10 single shots from the holster
25 push ups

Round 2
10 double taps, count the rounds and swap mags when appropriate.
25 abs (dealer’s choice)

Round 3
10 double taps, swap mags after every double tap.
15 burpees

Round 4
20 double taps, count the rounds and swap mags when appropriate.
25 abs (Dealer’s choice)

Round 5
10 single shots from the holster
25 abs (you can never work abs enough)

Round 6
10 double taps, swap mags after every double tap.
15 burpees

Round 7
20 double taps, count the rounds and swap mags when appropriate.
25 abs (Dealer’s choice)

Round 1
10 single shots from the holster
25 push ups

-Josh